Inverloch joy flights rejected

OBJECTORS of a joy flight business in Inverloch were relieved when Bass Coast Shire Council knocked back the proposal at the recent meeting.

However, not all residents are convinced council made the right decision, believing a tourism opportunity had been lost.

Former Inverloch councillor and Shire of Woorayl president Terry Hall said he was surprised at council’s decision.

“I heard about the proposal and got all the information. I talked to the proponents and got the facts, and I made the decision based on what I heard, not hysteria,” he said.

“I think this would’ve been good the community. Inverloch’s community is progressive, and I’m surprised councillors would reject this. Just because people say inflammatory things, it doesn’t mean it’s right.”

Councillors were split in the decision to deny the proposal, with councillors Clare Le Serve, Stephen Fullarton, Geoff Ellis and Bruce Kent voting against the motion to reject.

The proposal was rejected because it was believed it was inappropriate under the guidelines of the farming zone, and would impact the character of the landscape.

Cr Julian Brown led the charge to reject the proposal.

“I believe there are two sides to this issue. The applicant has tried to keep council up to date on his vision and commissioned a noise study. The EPA had not objections regarding the noise,” he said.

“The land is currently used for farming, and if the base is used for agricultural spraying, I absolutely support it. However, when we have tourism opportunities in farming zone, it needs to relate closely to agriculture. Joy flights do not support farming. The noise could impact on some residents and there would be visual impacts.

Cr Les Larke said the community sentiment should outweigh the business venture.

However, Mr Hall said he saw no problem with the business, despite owning a property directly adjacent.

“I have had the property for 15 years. I no longer live there, but my family frequent the property. I spoke with my two sons who are often there, and they had no objections,” he said.

“I encourage the applicant to make a (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal).”

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Sep 26 2017. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry